


Blood Ties

by Crazy_Pairing_Person



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action, Angst, Drama, Future Fic, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I apologize for future sucky fighting/action scenes, M/M, Not Really Character Death, Other, but it's barely there tbh, but they'd kind of spoil stuff, kind of?, there is technically romance, there's more tags I should put, which is weird for me, you'll need tissues by the way for the angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-11-26
Packaged: 2018-07-26 02:20:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7556347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazy_Pairing_Person/pseuds/Crazy_Pairing_Person
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maria is seventeen years old. She lost both of her fathers when she was two. The only sort of family she has is Allura and Coran, who have raised her in place of her fathers. Most of the universe is under the rule of Zarkon, and without Voltron there's no one around to really pose a threat to him. Maria can pilot the blue lion, like her Papa, but there's no one around to pilot the other four. But there's one more way that Zarkon can be stopped.</p><p>Time travel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to take this moment to sincerely apologize for the angst that will happen in this fic almost nonstop. Also I'm a writer so I can basically rip your heart out in a way that's completely legal. So...Sorry but I'm also kind of not.
> 
> Also I know nothing of babies and I'm so sorry for that too. Luckily I only have to deal with a baby in this chapter :D

"I'll be fine, Mom," Lance said with an endearing smile. He pet his mom's hand comfortingly. "Just take care of Maria and I'll be back soon, okay?" he added, and then pressed a kiss to each of his mother's cheeks.

"Last time you said you'd be back soon, you left the Garrison and I spent  _years_ wondering if you were dead," she reminded him. He flinched, and looked to Keith for help.

"Ma'am," Keith spoke up, glancing outside to the waiting spaceship. They needed to go  _now_. "Your son is a defender of the universe. He's been through a lot, even if you haven't seen him in that time. I guarantee you he'll be fine." He gently passed his sleeping one year old daughter to Lance's mother. "But space is no place for a little girl, especially when fighting alien invaders."

Lance's mother sighed, looking down at the sleeping child in her arms. She looked up at her son's face. Oh, how she'd missed him, and now he had to leave again. But her son's husband was right - Lance could handle himself just fine. "I'll miss you, my  _precioso hijo_." Tears welled up in her eyes, and Lance wrapped her in a hug, careful not to suffocate his daughter.

" _Yo también te extrañaré, mamá_ ," he murmured. He pulled away, and forced a smile onto his face. "I have to go now. See you soon."

She watched from inside as her son and his husband boarded the spaceship. As it took off, she heard Maria starting to wake up. "Hush now, sweetie. _Tu papá estará de vuelta pronto. Él prometió que lo haría_ ," she murmured. She gently rocked the girl, humming a lullaby she used to sing to Lance and all her other children.

* * *

Nine months later, Lance's mother was feeding Maria her lunch, when she heard a knock on the front door. She stood up and prepared to go answer it, but Maria whined and stretched her arms out, wanting to be let out. The older woman sighed fondly and lifted Maria out of her highchair.

"We may have to get you a booster seat, soon," she said with a smile. She went to answer the door with Maria walking behind her. The girl giggled wildly, and grabbed on to the bottom of older woman's skirt. She sighed and opened the door, and was met with a younger woman with a solemn expression.

"Can I help you?" she asked politely, gently prying Maria's hands off of her clothing.

"I am Princess Allura of Altea. I am afraid I have some news about your son."

She stopped trying to remove Maria's hands from her skirt, looking up at Allura with a concerned expression. "What is it?"

Allura swallowed uncertainly, her eyes sad and apologetic. "He's... Dead."

Lance's mother felt the wind knocked from her lungs. "H-how? When?!" she cried, clinging to the doorframe like it was the only thing holding her up. Maria tugged incessantly on the woman's skirt, seeming to sense that she was upset.

Allura pressed her lips together, she clearly didn't want to talk about what exactly had happened. "I need to take Maria," she said instead.

"What?! Why would you want to take her?" she asked. As if to protect Maria, she reached down and held the little toddler in her arms. Allura sighed.

"I know it may be difficult, and it seems unreasonable for me to take her." Allura looked at the other woman with an expression that said that she understood her pain. "It's like I'm taking the last piece of your son you have. But I can take Maria and train her to fight. I can make sure that your son's death is not something that will be in vain. She can save your planet." Allura took a deep breath. "I know you're hurting now, but please think of the universe, and think of what Lance would have wanted for it."

She looked down at the little girl in her arms. The girl looked back with wide eyes. "Papa?" the girl said in her sweet little voice. She was pointing at a picture behind her, and the woman turned. It was a picture of Lance, Keith and Maria, from a few months before they'd left for space again.

"Your Papa's gone,  _chica dulce_." She gave the little girl an uncertain smile.

"Papa gone."

"Yes. This lady's going to take you so you can save everyone else." She passed Maria to Allura, who gave her a sad, but grateful smile.

"Daddy?"

Allura sucked in a breath. She looked like she understood that 'Daddy' was Keith.

"Your Daddy's gone too," Allura said softly. She gave the sad woman in the doorway another smile. "Thank you. I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Just make sure it isn't in vain," she murmured. "Save everyone. I know Lance will proud if Maria can do it, so make sure that she can."

Allura nodded and turned towards the spaceship behind her. The older woman watched as Allura boarded the ship with her granddaughter in her arms. She watched as the ship took off.

Only when it was gone, did she let tears fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> precioso hijo = precious son  
> Yo también te extrañaré, mamá = I'll miss you, Mom  
> Tu papá estará de vuelta pronto. Él prometió que lo haría = Your dad will be back soon. He promised that he would  
> chica dulce = sweet girl


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When Maria says 'Daddy' she's talking about Keith, and 'Papa' means she's talking about Lance. I know that's sort of obvious from the last chapter but Allura uses those same words when referring to them separately at the beginning of this chapter and I thought it'd seem OOC for her unless I clarified it.

Seventeen year old Maria dodged the gladiator as it swung for her. As she ducked she stuck a leg out and knocked its legs from under it and it fell on its back. She swiftly stood up and plunged her training sword into its chest. She gasped for air as the simulation ended, and she sat down to slow her heartbeat.

"You've got the same fighting capabilities as your daddy did," Allura spoke, catching Maria's attention. Maria gave her a sad smile.

"I'll have to be better than him if we have any hope of defeating Zarkon," she pointed out. "A  _lot_ better, in fact, considering we don't have any lions except the blue one. Let alone any other Paladins."

Allura just gave Maria a sad smile of her own, and held out a hand. Maria stood and walked over, taking Allura's hand in her own and allowing the princess to lead her from the training room and into the hallway.

"Coran and I have raised you since you were almost two years old," Allura said. "You've grown so much, and if your fathers were here they would be so proud."

"Is there a point to this story?" Maria asked.

"During the time that we've raised you, as we've barely evaded getting captured by the Galra, or Zarkon, I've been working on something." Allura stopped just outside the control room, and gave Maria a smile. "I've finally finished it, and you're ready for it, too."

Out of almost nowhere, Allura pulled out a picture and gave it to Maria. Maria felt as though she recognized it. It was a photo of her when she was a baby, with her two dads.

"Where'd you get this? You told me it was on earth with my grandmother."

"I've had a copy for a while, but I wanted to wait until now to give it to you."

Maria watched as Allura opened the door to the control room. She followed the princess and saw Coran pressing some buttons.

"Coran, is it ready?"

"Yes, princess! Just a few more minutes and Maria will be all set to go back in time!"

Maria looked at Allura in shock, while Allura barely concealed a smile.

"I'm going back in time?" she asked breathlessly. Allura placed a hand on her shoulder, a comforting smile on her face.

"That picture is a memento from your life here. When you go back, you'll end up about a month before your fathers land back on Earth." Allura stepped towards Coran, discreetly making sure nothing had gone wrong while she continued to speak. "Specifically, it will be right before-"

"I know, you've told me how everything got started countless times," Maria said. She bit her lip. "So I guess I just need to make sure nothing goes wrong on that mission, then."

"You know exactly what you need to make sure doesn't happen. No matter what, okay?"

"No matter what," Maria echoed. "And thank you, so much, for taking care of me. I appreciate it a lot."

Allura gave her a smile. "I will miss you."

"I won't be able to come back?"

"I don't think so. It's going to take too much power to send you there as it is," Allura explained. "In addition, we'll actually only be creating a sort of alternate timeline. I don't think we would want to bring you back, because nothing will have changed for us."

"Then why send me at all?"

"Because you and your parents, and everyone else, deserves a happy ending, even it's only in another timeline."

Maria nodded solemnly.

"I will miss you too, then."

"Um, Princess? This rift, it's taking too much power. I'll need to shut off the shields for a moment to open it," Coran said uncertainly.

"Shut them off. Maria will get in before anyone can attack us, and then we'll turn the shields on again," Allura said. Her voice had a note of finality, leaving no room for arguments from either of them. Coran did as she asked, and then it felt as though the room was filled with static electricity. A bright light appeared in the middle of the room, pulsing with electricity.

"That's the rift. Hurry now, Maria-"

The ship jolted, and a bright red alarm went off as something outside started to attack them. Maria let out a desperate shriek, and grabbed for the bayard at her side. Allura pushed on her shoulders, though, pushing Maria towards the rift.

"Just go! We'll be okay!"

Before Maria could even try to argue, she was forcefully shoved into the rift.

* * *

Maria felt like she had been forced underwater for several minutes. Suddenly, she gasped, desperately filling her lungs with precious air and she opened her eyes. Her head hurt, her back hurt, and she was on the ground. And she was staring up at several faces, who looked like they thought she was an enemy. Her eyes locked on two faces in particular.

"Papa, Daddy!"

The words came out almost like sobs, and she immediately tried to stand to give them a hug. However she lost her balance, and her head spun as she almost fell back down. Two arms reached out and steadied her, and found that it was her papa, giving her a concerned look

"Um, who are you?" someone else spoke. Maria looked, and saw a short, younger person, with short light brown hair and glasses. The Green Paladin, Pidge, she realized. They looked just how Allura had always described when telling stories.

"My name is Maria. I come from seventeen years in the future," she explained. Then she turned and looked at her parents, her eyes shining. "You're my fathers," she said, her voice quiet. She grabbed them in a hug, almost wanting to never let them go.

"The future?" another Paladin said. The Black Paladin, Shiro. Maria released her parents and nodded at him.

"The future is horrible, and I'm here to prevent Zarkon taking over the universe," she explained. "And, well..."

She hesitated, and looked at all of them with wide eyes. The Yellow Paladin, Hunk if she remembered correctly, placed his hand on her shoulder as a sign of comfort.

"My papa is dead, and my daddy is gone too, and all of you are dead, and..." Maria felt tears fall from her eyes. "I'm going to save the universe, I promised Allura I would."

"You know the princess in the future?" Shiro asked. Maria nodded weakly.

"She had to raise me so I could pilot the Blue Lion like Papa," she explained. She sort of felt like a child, as they all stood there staring at her. She felt like they didn't believe her for a minute.

"Tell us what happened. Tell us how to prevent everything," Shiro said. Maria sucked in a breath. He was the leader, so they'd follow him. He looked like he believed her, so maybe they did too.

"Daddy... K-Keith," she started, looking at him. She couldn't keep calling him that, since he sort of looked like he thought she was crazy. "On the next mission you'll get captured. They'll want you to hand over the Red Lion. And you  _hav_ _e_ to give it to them."

"Are you crazy?!" Keith screamed. Maria looked down, her eyes shut in concentration.

" _Listen_ to me. If you don't give it to them, they'll shock you with an electric current. It's one that's been charmed, and..." She bit her lip. She wasn't about to tell them exactly  _how_ that current would work. She'd save that for later. "Just, if you get shocked by it too much, then it can have really bad lasting effects. It's what leads to the end of Voltron. It's what leads to  _his_ death!" Maria screamed that last part, pointing her finger in her papa's, _Lance's_ , face for emphasis.

She didn't want to blame Keith for Lance's death, but logic told her that it was his fault, no matter what her heart wanted to believe. But she was never able to admit that to herself.

"I don't know if we should trust her," Keith mumbled, but he didn't exactly look like he would want to risk Lance's death either. Pidge gave a mysterious smile.

"What if we test her DNA and see if she really is your daughter?"

"How could she be genetically related to us?" Lance countered.

"I have been working on something with Allura, and I was planning to give it to you when it would be  _feasible_ to take a break from Voltron. Space isn't exactly a place for a baby."

Keith's eye twitched, Lance just looked at Pidge like they were crazy, and Maria just felt really,  _really_ awkward.

* * *

However, that awkwardness turned out to be quite worth it. Coran helped test the DNA, and though he was staring at the results in confusion for a bit, he confirmed that Maria was indeed their child. Then everyone started to discuss what to do about what Maria had suggested earlier.

"If we just let them have the Red Lion, we won't be able to form Voltron," Keith pointed out. "But I'm not exactly happy about the fact that somehow Lance will die because of charmed electricity or whatever."

"That's not exactly how it happens," Maria said quietly, but no one heard, or if they did they simply didn't answer.

"I mean, Maria's the one who came here to help us, right? Shouldn't we ask her opinion?" Hunk suggested.

And with that seven pairs of eyes all turned on Maria. Not exactly a settling sight for someone who was used to living with only two aliens her whole life.

"I-I mean, in this specific instance... You only need to give it to them, or at least say you will. Once you can escape you could just take it back and you won't have to worry about any problems."

They all seemed to agree on that idea. At the very least, it was the best they had right then.

"Can't he just, you know, _not_ get captured?" Lance asked, rubbing his neck.

"I only know what Allura's told me in her stories. I don't exactly have a strategy that would completely guarantee that he couldn't get captured," Maria said apologetically, yet also somehow sarcastically. More than anything that only further confirmed that she was related to Keith and Lance.

"It'll be alright," Allura said. "We'll make sure to get the Red Lion back quickly after Keith is free. For now we have to stay focused on any other problems or missions that arise."

"You should all go back to training." Coran said, looking to the Paladins.

"Do you want to join us, Maria?" Keith asked, appearing rather uncertain. Maria shook her head.

"I have a bit of a headache from travelling through the rift. I think I should go rest," she said. Keith nodded, and quickly turned and exited the control room. Maria looked at Allura. "Where should I sleep?"

"Keith and Lance spend so much time in Lance's room, you can just sleep in Keith's," Pidge pointed out. Lance let out an indignant shriek, and Maria hid her smile behind her hand.

* * *

Allura and Coran had fought back against the soldier. There was only  _one_ , because every chance Zarkon got he would send this one and this one alone to fight them.

Coran was pinned, and the soldier raised his weapon, only for Allura to tackle him and shove him off of Coran.

As they fought, the rift dwindled. Soon it would disappear. The soldier saw the rift, and shoved both Allura and Coran with a force that knocked both of them across the room. The soldier examined the rift, and saw a small machine that was used to set coordinates for where and when something would land. He changed some things on the screen, and entered the rift before either of the Alteans could stop him. The rift closed behind him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so just in case anyone can't tell Keith and Lance are already dating here at this part. When they go down to Earth they got married right after Maria was born so right now they're just boyfriends not husbands :)


	3. Chapter 3

Late in the night, or what she could only guess was the Earth's equivalent to night, Maria found herself in the control room. It was the only room that really had a good view of the stars outside. She sat down in the middle of the room and brought her knees to her chest, gazing upwards.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the picture that Allura,  _her_ version of Allura, had given her. The grass and blue sky and trees in the background told her that at one point, one brief moment, she had been on Earth. But she had absolutely no recollection because she was too young at the time. She wondered how it had felt to feel actual grass and solid ground beneath her feet. Her fingers traced over the big grins that her Papa and Daddy had. Her young self was on Daddy's shoulders, and had some food mashed on her face. It was green, like the goo she'd been practically raised on, but she knew that wasn't what it was.

The door opened, and Maria's head whipped around to see her Papa standing there in slight shock. She quickly put away the picture and stood up, her lips already forming words. "I-I just couldn't sleep. Whenever I couldn't sleep in my own time I'd just come and watch the stars."

"I do that sometimes," Lance said with a smile as he approached. His eyes drifted down to her hand, which was still stuffed inside her pocket. "What were you looking at?"

"It's nothing," Maria said quickly, and then felt herself heat when she realized that she'd said that too fast. With an almost guilty face, she pulled the picture back out and smoothed the wrinkles. She only just noticed that it was faded, probably from age. With a sad, resigned sigh, she passed it over to him. "Allura gave it to me before she sent me here," she explained, her voice soft.

"How old were you when she had to start raising you?" Lance asked. Maria didn't really want to answer, because she worried that he'd feel guilty. She looked down, stalling.

"I was... One year and nine months old," she said softly. "Almost two."

When he didn't reply right away, she looked up in concern. He was standing there with a dumbfounded expression, and behind that was sadness. There were apologies, which weren't even needed because honestly it hadn't been  _his fault_.

"I am so sorry, Maria," he said anyway. "You... You deserved so much more than all this. You deserved more from me than a blue lion and an entire universe of troubles."

That heartfelt apology, even though it wasn't exactly needed, struck something deep inside Maria, and she felt tears cascading down her face. "Papa!" she sobbed without thought. Before she could stop herself she launched herself at him, and then she was clinging to his shoulders, sobbing. She was letting out so much pain. Pain and sorrows and loneliness that had all accumulated over almost fifteen years. She cried until her eyes were out of tears and until her throat was sore. And she felt him gently patting her on the back, waiting it out with her.

When she stopped, she stepped back, and looked at him, rubbing at her already red and swollen eyes. "I'm sorry. Don't know what came over me," she said in a quiet, hoarse voice. He just gave her a comforting smile as he passed the picture back to her.

"It's okay. You went almost your whole life without your family. It's alright if you have to cry."

She looked down at the picture in her hands, then back up at the Lance in front of her. "Thank you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was sort of a filler chapter. I just really wanted to have it. :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea for what Maria's bayard would be came from captaincara on tumblr, who is an amazing writer! She also does AWESOME artwork like wow, check that shit out. 
> 
> Btw I don't know if I ever mentioned this or how many of you guys are actually here from my tumblr but mine's queencrazyships. Sometimes I might briefly have Klance ramblings on there? Also send asks please that would be so great.

Maria held her bayard in her hand, walking alongside Lance to head to the training room.

"You must have made it to pretty high levels in the future," he said, looking at her. He was just trying to make conversation to fill the silence. She was rather grateful for it, as well.

"I think I once might have made it to level ten," she said. "But I blacked out afterward from exhaustion. Whether they're raised in space or not, I don't think humans were made for Altean training bots." Lance looked appalled at her lack of self-care and had seemed to focus more on that than anything else.

"You have way too much Keith in you," he said with a sigh. "At least you don't have his horrible gloves, though." She giggled in reply to that.

When they entered the training room, they found that Keith was slicing away at the gladiator. Lance leaned against the wall, watching him with a dreamy smile, and Maria examined Keith's fighting style. He seemed to go all-out, and he was more offense than defense. It was similar to her own style when battling one-on-one, so she could see where she'd apparently gotten it from.

When Keith finally defeated it, he looked up and saw Lance and Maria. "How long have you two even been there?" he asked.

"A few minutes," Lance replied. He nudged Maria in the side. "I thought she should train with you."

Keith stared at him blankly. "Why?"

Lance stared at Keith like he'd grown a second head. "Keith, _cariño_ , you're dead in her timeline. At least try to bond with her!"

Maria didn't have any time to comment before Lance turned and left her with Keith. She sighed and looked at Keith, a small, awkward smile on her face.

"Blue bayard, huh?" Keith said slowly. Maria looked down at the bayard in her hand.

"Oh, yes. Allura said that even though I sort of fight like you, I'm a better fit for the Blue Lion." She clicked tongue as she tried to recall what had been said about that. "Something about my personality or how I act. Apparently the Lions don't just focus on how one fights."

Keith shrugged dismissively and went across the room to get his water bottle. Maria wanted to talk about something, anything. But her mind was just blank.

"How old were you?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Maria looked at him, but he wasn't meeting her gaze.

"When Lance and I died. How old were you?"

"Almost two," she said, her voice soft. She wanted to say something else but she decided against it when she saw how Keith's jaw clenched. She waited for him to speak again.

"Sorry that happened to you," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "I know what it's like to be without parents."

"I had Allura and Coran," she pointed out. He shook his head.

"But they weren't your parents, were they?"

Maria couldn't find any words to answer that. He was right, because even though she hadn't necessarily been alone, they would take every opportunity to remind her of her 'real' parents. So she'd always felt a little disconnected from them.

"I have a picture. It's a really old one, from before you were... Gone..." Her voice caught on the last word, heart thumping in her chest. _Careful_ , she thought. She pulled the picture from her pocket. She'd been trying to keep it on her at all times. She came closer to Keith and handed it to him. "The stories Allura and Coran have told me are the only way I'm able to remember you. They gave me that picture just before I came here, though."

"...Isn't there something odd to you about this picture?"

Maria shrugged. "I don't think it was too odd for me to have been on Earth when I was first born."

"No, it..." Keith sighed. "Never mind." He gave it back to her, and she took it with slight hesitation. "I'm probably imagining it."

But she saw how he looked a bit distant, like he was still concentrating on whatever he'd seen in the picture. She looked at it carefully, but didn't actually see anything too obvious that could be wrong with it.

Maria put the picture back into her pocket with a sigh. She'd look at it closer later. "Pa- Ah, Lance said to train. So, let's get to it."

Thankfully for her pride, Keith didn't mention her little slip. "Sure. Let's see how you handle-"

Red lights and a blaring alarm made them jump. Keith grabbed her arm, and started tugging her towards the control room. "Training later, fight now!"

Maria couldn't help but snort at that.

They made it to the control room. Since they had been preparing to train, they were both in their Paladin suits. Everyone else who was just running in was dressed up, too. Allura and Coran stood, gazing over every one of them.

"There is a small fleet of Galra ships outside-"

"And by 'small' she means there are only five!" Coran cut in. Allura sighed at him.

"Yes, there are only five. They should not be too difficult to defeat."

Everyone looked to Maria, and she sighed. "From what I was told, the mission in which Keith is kidnapped occurred during a sudden attack involving at least twenty ships. "She paused, running some numbers in her head, and then she nodded. "Yes, probably more, but at least twenty. Also, before that battle, there was a transmission from Zarkon himself. A threat of some sort, I believe."

"So this is not the time to be worried," Allura said. "Go on and fight as you normally do, Paladins. Do not worry about being too defensive and focus on defeating the ships."

"I'm coming with Papa," Maria said, the word falling from her mouth before she could stop it. She looked at Lance. "I can help."

Lance looked hesitant, and looked to Allura. "What do you think?" he asked.

"She's your daughter," Allura said. Lance huffed.

"Yeah, but I haven't even had her yet!"

"I'm coming!"

Maria shifted her bayard so that it was in its weapon form, an elegant rapier, and pointed it to Lance's throat. "Any objections?"

"None," Lance squeaked. Maria smirked.

"Excellent."

"Geez, Maria..." Pidge said. Maria shrugged and shifted her bayard back into its handle-like form.

"Let's get going, then," she said with a confident smirk. Everyone else gave a similar grin.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayy... It's time for a big plot twist.
> 
> I want to know what you guys think of it. Could you have guessed? I tried to leave hints in the previous chapters, little ones though. I followed something I learned in English. When you read the plot twist, if you can go back and reread it and see little hints that you overlooked, it's a good one. I'm not necessarily asking anyone to go back and reread it... But...

"Ah, but Lord Zarkon, I come from the future."

The soldier smiled coldly at Zarkon, who sat silently, listening to him speak. "I have valuable information about Voltron, and how the Paladins will act in each of their battles. Who better than to tell you how to succeed than one who saw it happen himself?"

"If it has happened as you saw it," Zarkon said, "then I do not need your help."

"Perhaps," the soldier said. He straightened slightly, a small smirk on his lips. "But how do you think I came here?"

Zarkon didn't respond, other than with a tilt of his head.

"There is a girl in my future. Her name is Maria Kogane, and she has trained her entire life, making her much more of a threat than the Paladins you know of. She has come back to this time in an attempt to defeat you." The soldier bowed. "I followed her so that I may aid you in your conquest. I would hate to see your Empire fall."

Zarkon considered what the soldier told him. "Very well. But, you must tell me your name first. I could see you rising through the ranks as second-in-command if all goes well here."

The soldier smirked. "My name?"

* * *

"You were awesome, Maria!" Pidge yelled, glomping her when she followed Lance from the Blue Lion.

"Thank you, Pidge," she said. There was a slight smile on her face as everyone commended her on her quick thinking. "It was nothing, honest. I did grow up with all the training that you all are just getting used to, after all."

"She has a point," Lance said.

"Let's all take a shower and then eat lunch. We can get to group exercise afterwards, okay?"

Everyone agreed, and Shiro stopped Maria with a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to worry about group exercise if you-"

"I have to stay in top form until the Zarkon of this time is permanently defeated," she said. "After that, I'll take all the leisure time I want, I assure you."

Shiro nodded hesitantly. "Whatever you say, then. See you at lunch."

They left the hangar and went to their respective showers, silent.

Over and over Maria turned what had happened with Keith earlier in her mind, trying to see it from different angles. She paused and pulled out the picture once more. She looked at it, closely, really looked. She had never seen anything wrong with it herself, but she tried to see what could be wrong in Keith's eyes.

...Oh. There it was.

She froze. She put the picture back into her pocket and all but ran to the showers.

Well, on the bright side, Keith wasn't seeing things earlier.

* * *

"Does anyone have anymore questions before we begin the exercise?" Allura asked. Maria held her hand up, confusing everyone else.

"I need to talk to Keith alone."

And without even waiting to see if she'd get any sort of permission, she grabbed Keith by his arm and dragged him from the training room. She tugged him all the way down to the room she'd been staying in, and locked the door behind them. He looked at her, his eyebrows furrowed together.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"The picture. From earlier," she said, pulling it from her pocket. "I realized what you meant by something being wrong. I didn't see it because I've always known of it and it didn't seem strange to me."

She pointed at the Keith in the picture. He was grinning, almost laughing. There were almost invisible purple spots on his face... So light that Lance hadn't seen it in the dark when they'd looked at the stars together. But Keith had noticed, just barely, in the training room. "Do you see? The purple spots?" she asked, her voice shaking.

Keith looked at the picture, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Yeah, but I thought I was seeing things. Why do I have purple spots on my face in the future?"

Maria took a deep breath. "I didn't want to tell you," she said softly. "I wanted to avoid the whole matter and hope it wouldn't come up."

"What is it?" Keith asked, looking a little scared now.

"The electricity, that charmed electricity I mentioned. It was charmed in a way that, when you get shocked with it, not only will it slowly bring out Galran DNA in your body..." She bit her lip. "It will also slowly override your freewill. In the battle where Papa died, it finally took its full effect and..."

"No." Keith shook his head frantically, covering his ears. "Don't say it!"

"I'm sorry." Her breath hitched and she covered her face. "I'm sorry, you... You ki-"

"No!" Keith looked at her, eyes wide in fear as he stepped away from her. He pressed his hands harder against his ears, shaking his head. "No! Don't you  _dare_!"

Maria stepped close to him and yanked his hands away from his head. "You killed him!" Maria let out a sob as she looked at him with watering eyes. "You killed Papa, you killed Lance! You killed  _everyone_."

"N-no..." Keith sunk to the ground, slowly, and curled into himself. "No... I didn't... I wouldn't..."

"You wouldn't. But you weren't in control of yourself." Maria knelt next to him, staring at him with concern. "I'm... I'm sorry. I never wanted you to know."

"So I'm not dead like everyone?" Keith let out a huff. "It's like you kept saying. I'm  _gone_."

Maria nodded, staring blankly at the floor. "Yeah. You are." She clenched her fists, digging her fingernails into the flesh of her palm. "I... Every time I see you, I do try to talk sense into you. But it never works. You always just try to hurt me."

Tears fell from Keith's eyes. "No... Please say you're lying."

Maria sighed shakily, and shook her head. "I can't. I'm sorry. This is... The sad truth."

Keith swallowed, staring blankly into space. "I'd like to be alone," he said after a moment.

"It won't happen," she said. "I'll make sure you don't get shocked, okay? I'll even try to make sure you don't get kidnapped!"

"Maria... Please."

Maria sighed, and stood slowly. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to tell you."

She wished she hadn't. The look on his face... He was broken. God, and Maria couldn't blame him. She slowly turned and just left him in the room. When the door closed, she leaned against it, and sighed heavily, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered.


End file.
